The Choice, was an exhibition that identified unknown and emerging artists through the viewpoint of leading contemporary artists. We invited an international group of artists to engage their own curatorial ideas. In the role of curator, these artists had been asked to present the work of artists they have followed or whose work has affected them in a personal way.
Curator/Artists
Ida Applebroog: Jane Higgins, Saeri Kiritani, Lisa Petsu Lagunes
Nicole Eisenman: Alison Kelly, Maria E. Piñeres, Suzanne Wright
Robert Gober: Jonathon Hexner
Antony Gormley: Ignassi Aballi, John Patrick Clayman
Gottfried Helnwein: Iris Andraschek, Danielle Kraay
Damien Hirst: Rachel Howard
Cindy Sherman: Charles Clough, Susan Jennings, David Krueger, Gail Le Boff
Laurie Simmons: Helen Rousakis, Pedro Barbeito
Kiki Smith: Joey Kötting
Sam Taylor-Wood: Georgie Hopton

The Choice, is an exhibition that identified unknown and emerging artists through the viewpoint of leading contemporary artists. We invited an international group of artists to engage their own curatorial ideas. In the role of curator, these artists had been asked to present the work of artists they have followed or whose work has affected them in a personal way. In keeping with Exit Art’s mission to bring the work of emerging artists to a broader audience, they were asked that the artists they chose had not had major exposure.Each of the participating artists/curators was chosen for their different perspectives on contemporary art. Through juxtaposing each of the curator’s selections within the context of a larger exhibition, new readings of relationships, influences, parallels and differences among a diverse group of artists was suggested. The Choice created a web of opposing and complimentary visions, revealing a more inclusive and open reading of recent developments in contemporary art.The Choice was the first project in what we planned to be the future direction of Exit Art’s programming - collaborative, multi-media, multi-disciplinary, transcultural explorations of contemporary culture. This new curatorial initiative explored the politics of choice, for who gets to choose ultimately leads to the recognition of the language of culture at that moment, articulating tendencies in contemporary thought and establishing critical priorities. We began this curatorial project with artists as a way to acknowledge their invaluable contribution to the curatorial process, for artists have always been a primary source of information about younger and emerging artists.

Exit Art has a long history of serving as a resource for artists, providing support, exposure and context for these artists and encouraging them to work in new ways. We wanted to establish this new curatorial venture by opening up Exit Art to a group of established artists, providing them with the same kinds of opportunities for curatorial experimentation.